[CTartist]

Originally Posted by Meglion

What about homes in North Stamford? As soon as you go 5 minutes north of the city area, it's lush, well cared-for, taxes are lower than in FF, and it's closer to the Bronx. And ?I think schools are good. Areas such as Westover, Turn of River, etc.

I am from Stamford. When I grew up the schools were good and then busing started when I was in high school. They bus the kids pretty far in Stamford. There are no High Schools in North Stamford.


Nichols Trumbull Schools
Booth Hill #32
Hill Crest MS #6
Trumbull HS #11

North Stamford Schools
Davenport Ridge #381
Rippowam MS #159
Stamford HS #93
https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/...d/pid_25416064

https://www.schooldigger.com/go/CT/s...k.aspx?level=3
Elementary out of 519
Middle School out of 250
High School out of 140

You can use other schools sites and it will basically bet he same. The schools in Stamford is the reason most of my cousins and friends live up in my area of Fairfield, Trumbull and Monroe and even into New Haven County.

[kidyankee764]

^ schools are definitely good in Trumbull, but unless the train is an option, I’d advise the OP not consider it. They’d have a 2 hour commute each way. Y

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

^ schools are definitely good in Trumbull, but unless the train is an option, I’d advise the OP not consider it. They’d have a 2 hour commute each way. Y

I agree with you and Stylo but the OP seems to be okay with a long commute and they did not say if their commute is during normal rush hours. If it is, I would say to head north to the Danbury area. If their commute is during off peak hours, they can consider Trumbull. Jay

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by JayCT

I agree with you and Stylo but the OP seems to be okay with a long commute and they did not say if their commute is during normal rush hours. If it is, I would say to head north to the Danbury area. If their commute is during off peak hours, they can consider Trumbull. Jay

Agree. Trumbull to Bronx is still tough but unfortunately a 500k budget won’t get them much closer to the city unless they are okay with a condo (which I don’t think they are).

[CTartist]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

Agree. Trumbull to Bronx is still tough but unfortunately a 500k budget won’t get them much closer to the city unless they are okay with a condo (which I don’t think they are).

That is why I told him to check the financials carefully. It might not be less expensive with a shorter commute than Long Island where he lives now. Then throw in the fact the OP wants 1 acre or more and that leaves Trumbull or another town in Fairfield County where the commute is just as long.

That is the dilemma the middle class is in in the tri-state NYC area.

I know because when I started looking for a house I started in Darien/New Canaan and I could only afford a one bedroom condo in those towns and that was in the 1990's. Now it seems it is only worse. That is why I had to look in Fairfield/Trumbull. The 5 to 10 minute further drive in Trumbull was worth it to me at the time because the land and house was bigger in Trumbull than Fairfield.

The OP can't know unless he sees the different towns and how the houses are situated. Even in my area of Upper Long Hill Trumbull with the 1/2 acre zoning my neighborhood doesn't seem as tight/dense as the beach or Stratfield sections of Fairfield were the smaller lot sizes are. As soon as I saw it I knew I wanted to live in Upper Long Hill as opposed to the sections I could afford in Fairfield despite the little longer commute.

If he could take the train to the Bronx it wouldn't be that bad 3 days a week. I went to school in Manhattan 2 to 3 days a week from Trumbull and while not ideal it wasn't so bad. He could go down the connector to the Fairfield Metro station.

[Lalalally]

If it were me, my first choice would be Ridgefield if something acceptable could be found in the OPs price range. You just can't go wrong w/ that town and it seems to hit on almost everything on their wish list.


Tied for runner up would be Bethel or New Fairfield, for different reasons -- Bethel for its charming (albeit smallish, compared to Ridgefield's) walkable downtown which the OP's wife wants; and New Fairfield for its commuting advantage and its proximity to outdoorsy activities -- hiking trails, lake, etc.


I would not consider any other towns in that price range -- the commute would be beyond horrific.

[CTartist]

Originally Posted by Lalalally

If it were me, my first choice would be Ridgefield if something acceptable could be found in the OPs price range. You just can't go wrong w/ that town and it seems to hit on almost everything on their wish list.


Tied for runner up would be Bethel or New Fairfield, for different reasons -- Bethel for its charming (albeit smallish, compared to Ridgefield's) walkable downtown which the OP's wife wants; and New Fairfield for its commuting advantage and its proximity to outdoorsy activities -- hiking trails, lake, etc.


I would not consider any other towns in that price range -- the commute would be beyond horrific.

I didn't think he could find houses in his price range in Ridgefield because the average house is $673,087 (according to city-data). But you can find houses on 1 acre in Ridgefield for the OP's budget.

https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/.../pid_25647777/
https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/...t/pid_25479994
https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/...d/pid_24118256
https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/...d/pid_25664421

The average house in Ridgefield is $673,087 and the average house in Trumbull is $402,112. The houses in Ridgefield will be smaller and will probably need work that might push him far above his budget. I know, I looked in Ridgefield too. I personally felt isolated up there in the Ridgefield area but other people like that. My dad had property in Ridgefield near a lake to build a house but my mom would not go up there either.

How is the train ride into Manhattan? Where do you take the train into Manhattan if you are in Ridgefield. In Trumbull the OP and his wife can have a pretty good train ride into the Bronx and Manhattan. If you are in Ridgefield do you basically have to drive into the Bronx and Manhattan or have a very long train ride? The train ride from Bethel/Ridgefield looks much longer than the Fairfield Metro or Fairfield stations.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by CTartist

I didn't think he could find houses in his price range in Ridgefield because the average house is $673,087 (according to city-data). But you can find houses on 1 acre in Ridgefield for the OP's budget.

https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/.../pid_25647777/
https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/...t/pid_25479994
https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/...d/pid_24118256
https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/...d/pid_25664421

The average house in Ridgefield is $673,087 and the average house in Trumbull is $402,112. The houses in Ridgefield will be smaller and will probably need work that might push him far above his budget. I know, I looked in Ridgefield too. I personally felt isolated up there in the Ridgefield area but other people like that. My dad had property in Ridgefield near a lake to build a house but my mom would not go up there either.

How is the train ride into Manhattan? Where do you take the train into Manhattan if you are in Ridgefield. In Trumbull the OP and his wife can have a pretty good train ride into the Bronx and Manhattan. If you are in Ridgefield do you basically have to drive into the Bronx and Manhattan or have a very long train ride? The train ride from Bethel/Ridgefield looks much longer than the Fairfield Metro or Fairfield stations.

Didn’t you say your parents live in Monroe (or Newtown)? Both of those are more out of the way than most of Ridgefield.

[Lalalally]

Originally Posted by CTartist

I didn't think he could find houses in his price range in Ridgefield because the average house is $673,087 (according to city-data). But you can find houses on 1 acre in Ridgefield for the OP's budget.

https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/.../pid_25647777/
https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/...t/pid_25479994
https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/...d/pid_24118256
https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/...d/pid_25664421

The average house in Ridgefield is $673,087 and the average house in Trumbull is $402,112. The houses in Ridgefield will be smaller and will probably need work that might push him far above his budget. I know, I looked in Ridgefield too. I personally felt isolated up there in the Ridgefield area but other people like that. My dad had property in Ridgefield near a lake to build a house but my mom would not go up there either.

How is the train ride into Manhattan? Where do you take the train into Manhattan if you are in Ridgefield. In Trumbull the OP and his wife can have a pretty good train ride into the Bronx and Manhattan. If you are in Ridgefield do you basically have to drive into the Bronx and Manhattan or have a very long train ride? The train ride from Bethel/Ridgefield looks much longer than the Fairfield Metro or Fairfield stations.

I would imagine most people would prefer to drive to the Bronx. However, if his plan is to commute by train, the only Bronx station served by the New Haven Line that I can think of is the Fordham stop -- the others that come to mind off the top of my head I think are served only by the Harlem Line -- Melrose, Tremont, Botanical Garden, Woodlawn, etc., so if he were to commute by train, he would probably want to live in proximity to the Harlem Line -- i.e. Ridgefield or New Fairfield. But again, I just assumed he was planning to drive to the Bronx.


His wife needs to be in Manhattan maybe 2 times a month -- most Ridgefield residents take the train from Katonah.

[CTartist]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

Didn’t you say your parents live in Monroe (or Newtown)? Both of those are more out of the way than most of Ridgefield.

My mom and dad are now retired and are in their 80's. I live in northern Trumbull and they are only 10 minutes away in southern Monroe. My dad has Parkinson's. My brother lives in Newtown only about 10 minutes away from my mom and dad too thank God. We both need to help.

We are all originally from Stamford and my dad had a business in Stamford. My mom didn't want to leave Stamford and go to Ridgefied. My mom and dad bought the house a Stamford in the 1960's that we grew up in. This was when Stamford did not have busing. We lived near Westhill HS just below the Parkway and it was very nice....it still is very nice but the schools are not that great now (:. So they were looking at houses in the 1960's and things were drastically different back then.

Ridgefield and Bethel were very remote in the 1960's in relation to Stamford. I remember as a girl we would go visit my relatives who owned the Stony Hill Inn in Bethel and it felt like we were going to the outback. It seemed like in those days there was very little up there.

Sorry to go off topic.